


Playlist

by SinFrog



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Amy meets a planeswalker, Bad Parenting, But Good Grandparenting, Chapters seem to be getting longer each time, Dark Super Forms, F/F, Gen, Metal Sonic related angst, Not a personality swap, Shadow Is A Hero, Silver is the Sol Emerald's Guardian, Sonic Swap AU, Sonic is the Ultimate Lifeform, Su and Wu aren't in this but Lah doesn't have her own tag, The House of Needlemouse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-02-21 15:32:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18705160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinFrog/pseuds/SinFrog
Summary: Short Swap AU stories based on song titles from the OST.





	1. Afterglow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: Sonic 1, Mountain Range Zone (Green Hill Zone)
> 
> Song: Afterglow (Mountain Range Zone)
> 
> https://instaud.io/private/2992ca230f824116cf55ddd7b563b9b8f0b484d8

The mountain wind whipped around Shadow’s form as he looked down from one of the range’s many high peaks, searching as much as he was basking in the light. Though trying to remain stoic, his heart was aflutter, still riding the afterglow of what had happened just before he’d set off on his ‘journey’. Could he even call it that? There was still plenty of time to throw in the towel, run off just as he always had, face reality and accept that making a big scene and getting praised by a small village didn’t make him a hero. Just before he’d left, a man he’d found was called ‘Gerald’ was displaying some kind of new technology he’d devised, a machine that turns organic life into robotic ‘upgraded’ versions of themselves, the ‘ Roboticizer ’. A stupid name, maybe, but seeing it in action was nothing short of terrifying. He’d only stopped in the village to fuel his bike, but Shadow had ended up watching the demonstration only to find himself surrounded by  Mobians  fearing their lives, some running, some hiding their children, some cursing the entire human race, but Shadow was rooted by something. 

A small spark, a small  _ something _  in his body that snapped and caused him to move without thinking. A  Mobian  on the run for multiple cases of theft hiding out on a backwater island that thought, for just a second, he could mean something.

And he did.

He’d shot towards the human’s flying vehicle and caved the front of it in with a rocket-powered kick, sending the human and his granddaughter (whom Shadow had barely noticed until then, in her silence) flying back and stopping their insidious operation. His heart was pounding in his ears, stopping him from hearing the human man’s curses and shouts as he’d declared they’d regret swimming against the current of change. Before he knew it, Shadow was being congratulated and thanked left and right, lifted over someone’s head and called a hero.

A what?

No, that can’t be right, he didn’t hear properly.

‘Hero’? There was just no way!

But it was true, the people of the village at the base of the Mountain Range Zone thought Shadow the Hedgehog was a hero, and he had no idea what to do about it. As the excitement came to rest, people looked at him expectantly; someone had brought his bike to him, filled up and good as new.

“Well? Aren’t you gonna chase after him?”

The thought hadn’t for a second crossed Shadow’s mind, but now, with the stares of the people who idolized him pressing into his skin, he felt he had no choice. He was a hero, right? Then it was his job, his duty! That was when he found himself tearing up the mountain trail and stopping on the high peak, surveying the land.

It was time to go.


	2. Bloodied Bloodline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: Sonic 3 (Tikal Story), Sky Sanctuary Zone
> 
> Song: Bloodied Bloodline, Tikal vs Pachacamac Boss Theme

Falling to her knees, the stone surface beneath provides no comfort from what was before Tikal, cold hard ground sending nothing but pain through her as she tries to deny what she’s seeing. The man who’d raised her, trained her, told her that it was all for the future of their race, is standing before her half  Mobian  and half machine, laughing madly at her shock as he waves his wooden staff around, now accented with a blue-green spearhead made of light.

“Why? You told me they were the enemy! We couldn’t trust outsiders, nor use their technology! It would make us weak, because we couldn’t stand on our own!” Tikal yells at her father, pushing back tears as the Master Emerald’s soft glow illuminates their faces.

“You said... You needed me. You needed me to become strong and bring back our race! Why did you let them do this to you?” Tikal falls silent, glaring indignantly at  Pachacamac , awaiting a response. His laughter dies down a smug chuckle as he shakes his head.

   
“I had no other options, Tikal. You were my only chance at restoring our glorious race!” He gestures towards the Sky Sanctuary around them.

“But you were simply too  _ weak _ . You could never be Knuckles, not ever in your pathetic lifespan! You’re a coward who dislikes fighting, you have  next to  no experience and you have repeatedly failed to apprehend the outside invaders! The Doctor who warned us about them gave me this body so that I could finally fulfil this purpose  _ myself _ , meaning I can finally deem you obsolete!” He points accusingly at Tikal,  glaring viciously at his daughter.

   
“B-But...” Tikal stammers, her entire world crumbling. Was what Shadow said true? The Doctor –a liar, her father – overcome by temptation? All those years her father had drilled into her that she must become like Knuckles: strong, courageous, a leader with power unmatched! All so she could lead their people in her father’s place, who claimed to be too old to fulfil his wish. How he planned for her to rebuild their race she... Never cared to think about, but Tikal had always had the upmost faith that her father would guide her to do what’s best for them.

Until now.

   
Across the entire Island, Tikal had travelled and chased and fought and bled all in the name of her father, collected the seven Chaos Emeralds and brought them to this altar so that he could use them for whatever he needed them for. But now? What was the  _point?_  Nothing she’d ever done had amounted to anything, and as the negative thoughts swirled and echoed through her mind, the Emeralds began to react. The seven Chaos Emeralds began to leave her pockets and orbit above her head, as the Master Emerald’s vibrant and beautiful green subtly shifted to a sickly darkened hue. Tikal’s breathing became ragged as her thoughts turned into power, flooding her mind with a thick blanket of static as she found herself unable to think of anything else.

Strength. Power. Dominance. Everything her father had taught her, everything her father had suddenly found in his new body.  Pachacamac  looked with a vague disgust at this, what was this blasted girl doing to the Emeralds?

“Tikal! Stop this madness at once, have you lost all sense? The Master Emerald... What are you doing to it!?” He’s walking towards his daughter now, brandishing his weapon threateningly to try and make her stop. But there was no stopping this process now, Tikal’s fur had started to  darken  and her eyes turn pale, she lets out heavy gross sobs as negative Chaos energy tore through her body and stripped her of all uplifting  thought.

   
Chaos is power.

Power enriched by the heart.

But in this case...

   
Tikal stands up slowly, her father ceasing his approach as he sees that her fur has taken on a jet-black appearance, her hand covering her face and whole body rocking with heavy, choked breathing. Moving her hand away from her face and resisting the urge to double over in pain, Tikal’s eyes can be seen for what they are: Milky white voids completely absent of emotion. For a moment, Pachacamac says nothing, staring at his daughter’s frightful transformation into something dark. Before long, however, he can hold it no longer.

“This... Disgusting blasphemy... What monster have you become, out of desperation!?” The Emeralds are now completely void of  colour , dropping to the ground and rolling slightly away from Tikal’s body as it convulses, the transformation concluding. For the first time since  falling down , she’s completely silent. Her father stares, unable to comprehend what he’s seeing in this complete role reversal. 

With a guttural, distorted scream, the ground below Tikal is torn apart by her movement.   
   
Tikal charges at her father.


	3. Spectral Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: Post Sonic 3  
> Song: Spectral Heart 
> 
> Another song that isn't finished, but I've actually started it. Basically meant to be a sort of Lah theme, with heavy focus on her relationship with Maria and how they've positively affected eachother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This version of Lah is different from the version in Night of the Werehog, being similar to a Boom Boo from SA2! She wears the same outfit and generally keeps her distinguishing features, but she looks a bit more spooky with big claws, sharp teeth and flashy rainbow eyes when she's upset or angry.

Lah hadn’t seen snow in a very,  _very_  long time. 

When Maria had heard this, she’d almost been reduced to tears, snow is wonderful! How cruel of a fate must one have to not allow them the joys of snow in winter? Apparently, the Chaos radiation left behind at the casino Lah had been living in before Maria took her in made the weather perpetually dark and moody, it never rained, snowed or even allowed for sun! Using only her most powerful puppy-eyes, Maria had convinced her grandfather Gerald to take them back to the base on Christmas Island instead of their hidden bunker after they’d taken their leave from Angel Island, touching down in sleepy little village that Gerald was all too familiar with.  

The doctor’s eyes, though hidden by his glasses, were glazed as he reminisced to days before his grand attempts at world control, thanking his lucky stars that the residents here didn’t know of his exploits, and those who did were trusted allies who agreed with his cause. Before they went back home, Maria had simply insisted that they buy Lah some winter clothes, leaving her grandfather to wait outside the store as he stared into the snow. His grandfather, Ivo, had lived here for a time, and it was in this very village that Gerald had grown up! It was only natural his home base be here, it had to be here. 

“Grandfather!” 

Gerald awoke from his trip down memory lane, quickly turning to the store’s entrance where Maria was brightly beaming at him, wearing a pale purple duffel coat, wool hat, scarf and gloves. Gerald smiled warmly, glad to see her so happy. 

“How do I look?” 

“Nice and warm. Not blue this time?” Gerald slightly leaned closer, fixing Maria’s messily tied scarf as he spoke.  

“Nope! I’m co-ordinating!” 

“Hm?” Gerald stepped back, wondering what she’d meant by that when Lah floated her way outside of the store, wearing a similar coat, hat and scarf, but in blue. Her clawed hands would’ve made gloves difficult, Gerald imagined. The ghostly girl didn’t like being looked at by the doctor, and she seemed already annoyed by something, so he averted his eyes back to Maria. 

“I see, traded colours, have you? That’s awfully nice, maybe you could wear white next time, and I’ll wear blue?” Maria gasped at her grandfather’s proposition, nodding her head eagerly as they began to head back to Gerald’s craft, flying the short distance over to the large mountain that was their home, Maria chatting along the way about how rude the cashier was for calling Lah scary, it’s as if he’d never seen a ghost before! Gerald nor Lah answered to that, just nodding at her. 

Upon landing, Gerald fiddled with a remote that opened up a large rock face, revealing an entrance. Maria tugged on his sleeve to get his attention before they went inside however, seemingly struggling to speak. 

“Maria?” 

“I-I was just wondering, I know that you worry, so I’m a little hesitant to ask, but-” 

“Could Lah and I... Stay outside for a bit? We’ll just be in the woods, not far, and she’s never seen the winter before! Or well, not for a while, so-” Maria trails off into stuttering, thinking as if she were asking for the whole world. Gerald mentally berates himself, his paranoia, his fear of losing this haven, it had clearly taken a toll on her to think that merely asking to go outside were a crime. He silently takes Maria’s gloved hand and places the remote in her palm, nodding. She beamed, immediately rushing off to start excitedly babbling to Lah about what they’d to together on their day out. Smiling, Gerald took his leave. 

* * *

 The sunlight filtered through the leaves overhead as two girls, one walking and the other floating, made their way through the woodland. The light bounced off the soft, crunchy snow that made satisfying sounds as Maria walked, causing her no end of joy. All the way, she was talking about their trip to Angel Island and beyond, about how excited she was to be home, about her theories as to what her grandfather could come up with next, anything and everything that came to her mind. All the way, Lah listened intently, smiling and laughing and giving responses where she could, still re-learning how to speak after an extended period of... Not speaking. 

   
“And you know? I bet they’ll try and make up some silly story as to what ‘really’ happened, but we know, don’t we? We were the ones up in space, we saw everything! That’s the first time I’ve seen Shadow use all seven...” Maria was of course, referring to Shadow and Rouge’s Super Forms, the very same transformation Rouge had first displayed the first time the Space Colony ARK had been launched and Maria had gotten her first chance to duel with Shadow.  

Shadow... 

Lah had... Some difficulty with Shadow, to say the least. She’d tried to kill him when they’d first met, but when the escape pods hit Angel Island and Shadow had found them, he’d given up his Super Form to give Maria one of the Emeralds. Why? He didn’t know that Lah needed Chaos Energy to maintain a physical form, so  _why?_  Maria noticed her companion was frowning, causing her to frown too. 

“...I think that Shadow wants you to know that he’s forgiven you. He said that he trusts me, so he knows that I wouldn’t give a Chaos Emerald to someone nasty.” Lah turns to look at Maria as she speaks, eyes widening as Maria suddenly stops walking and grabs her large, clawed hand. 

“You might be a ghost, and some people might think you look scary... Like that guy at the clothes store! But... You’ve made me so much happier than I was before by just  _being_  there. You and Shadow are my first ever real friends, and you mean so much to me, so...” Maria hesitates, before quickly bowing her head. 

“Please try and get along with him!” She blurted out! Lah looked down at her hand, gently closing her claws around Maria’s fingers. 

“I...” Lah starts, looking into Maria’s eyes as they glitter in the light, she looks seriously worried. Though she’d seen Maria get worked up over things seemingly out of nowhere before, this felt real. 

“...I promise.” Before Lah can even blink, Maria’s hand slips out of hers as she near enough tackles Lah in a hug, almost falling over.  

“Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank-” Maria muffles herself against Lah’s coat, thanking her over and over. Lah hugs her back, hiding her own face in Maria’s slightly snow-covered hair as the two fall silent for a moment. 

“Lah?” Maria’s voice is still muffled, but she earns a ‘hm?’ in reponse. 

“Let’s do this again, maybe we’ll invite Shadow one day. We’ll spend time together without fighting.” The two of them broke apart, Maria once again grabbing hold of Lah’s hand. 

“We’ll get clothes with him, too! And I’ll make sure you get some gloves! Until then, just... Hold onto mine, ok?” Maria’s face goes slightly red as she averts her eyes cutely, causing Lah’s spectral heart to flutter.  


	4. Theme of Amy's Event

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: Sonic Rush, [Insert Night Carnival replacement]
> 
> Song: Theme of Amy's Event
> 
> https://soundcloud.com/sinfrog-electric-boogaloo/theme-of-amys-event
> 
> (Fun fact, that song was originally for the Swap AU, kinda got adapted into a canon thing, still fits.)

"Hey, mister. Why're you dressed like that?"

Silver turned over his shoulder to find the source of the voice questioning him, having to adjust his angle to meet the eyes of... What seemed to be a sassy, lost child.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You dress all weird, and what's with those crazy tattoos?" The 'lost child' was wearing an elaborate black dress over a white shirt, with heavy spiked boots and an equally spiked headband lining her pink quills. Idly in one hand, she twirled a violent looking hammer while her eyes ran Silver over, slightly lidded and bored looking.

"My markings are none of your bushiness, and I don't believe you're in any position to be asking about 'weird' clothing. Now, run along." He looked back towards the sprawling city he'd left behind, musing over the events that had led him to this place as the refreshingly more natural scenery surrounding him gently swayed in the wind. A bright light, the Sol Emeralds stolen from him, Blaze nowhere to be seen... Where was she now? Somewhere all alone, lost in the world? Silver clenched his fists at the thought, his charge isolated and defenseless. Something has to be done, and qui-!

A sharp pain shot through Silver's stomach, causing him to double over before falling to his knees, clutching the pained area. What the hell!? Face almost buried in his cloak, his mind was briefly blanked out by the initial wave of... Something. It felt like small pins oscillating against the lining of his gut!

"G-gah! What is this!? You there, child-" Silver looked around for the darkly dressed girl, but was shocked to see that she'd already made her way in front of him, frown set heavily on her face and eyes fully opened, glaring with a practiced look of intimidation.

"Apologize!"

"What!?"

"Say you're sorry! About my clothes!" The child brandished her hammer threateningly, was she for real? Somehow, was this her doing? Silver looked her up and down, not seeing any kind of markings on her person that would give her away as a fellow psychic, she was just a child! An armed, uniquely dressed, angry looking child! And yet somehow, he was at her mercy. This world isn't a kill-or-be killed hellscape like his, murder would just make things more awkward, but the thought most  _certainly_ played in Silver's mind as his jaw clenched in resistance to the pain nagging at his insides.

"Are you threatening me because of a vague comment like that!? Augh..!" Another wave of pain hit, causing Silver to once again bury his face in his clothing. The child's spiked boot nudged against his chest, threatening to topple the larger hedgehog onto his back.

"I don't care if it was vague, I spent more rings on this outfit than you've probably ever seen in your life! You look like a hobo!"

"Why you little-!" With a flick of his wrist, Silver's markings began to glow in tandem with the girl's weapon as it left her hands and floated upwards of seemingly it's own accord, she looked upwards at it with a small gasp of confusion before the rest of her lungs were emptied by the handle jamming itself into her midsection. 

Great. Now there were two hedgehogs kneeling on the ground in pain.

Silver took a deep breath as the pain started to subside, rising to his feet as the little girl glared daggers up at him. For a second, he just looked her over, debating what to do. Were this his homeland, he'd bash her head in, take her money and get home in time for dinner, but this noticeably less  _apocalyptic_ land told him that such an act might get him into some trouble, wouldn't be his first time getting whisked away to a better place. Sighing, Silver just brought the floating hammer into his own hand and kept eye-contact, turning over the possible choices he could make for an almost awkwardly long time. Eventually, the little girl caught her breath and stood up, examining... Her glove?

"I lost focus... Ugh, I'll need to draw a new one."

At a second glance, Silver could tell that she was referring to a kind of drawing on the palm of her glove in what looked like black marker, some kind of... Magic circle?

"How did you do that? If you tell me, and promise not to do it again, perhaps I'll apologize." This earned Silver another death-stare, but the pink hedgehog just groaned, showing her palm to him.

"Just gimme my hammer back!"

"You're lucky you aren't _dead_ yet, the last super-powered little girl that assaulted me got her lungs emptied in a much slower and more painful way, so unless you'd like me to resort to that..." Blaze had, in her defense, mistaken Silver for a common ruffian out to kill her, but they'd moved past that in their many years of knowing eachother.

"...'m a witch."

"A what?"

"A witch! Don't you know anything? I put a curse on you, with this." She raiseed her palm to Silver, showing the sigil she'd drawn.

"I see." She did that because of a comment towards her outfit? How petty.

"Can I have my hammer back now?" The girl held her hand out expectantly, only for Silver to remain still.

"What's your name?"

"Ugh, Amy! Just give it back already!"

"Very well, Amy." Silver released the weapon's handle from his fingers, letting it hang in the air inside a teal glow and nudging towards Amy, who caught it. Turning around, Silver began to walk away, but soon felt a tug at the back of his cloak, turning back to find Amy continuing to look upwards at him.

"What about you? How do make stuff float?"

"I am a psychic, my markings depict the signs of telekinesis, and they cover my entire body to represent my level of control. Is that satisfactory?"

"It's made-up sounding, is what it is!"

"And being able to curse people with drawings doesn't!?" Silver yanked his cloak from her hand and began marching away more briskly than before, only to feel someone stepping on the back of his shoe. Amy met the frustrated gaze he threw at her with one of stubbornness, crossing her arms and huffing.

"I'm talking to you! Stop walking away! I gave you my name, gimme yours!"

"It's Silver, now  _please_ leave me-."

"Why didn't you kill me?"

 

A tense silence filled the air as the wind paused. What kind of question was that? She'd been paying attention, clearly, but... Just what was she asking that for?

"Isn't it illegal?"

"Don't you know that? Why don't you know?" Amy's hands flew to her hips as she looked at Silver suspiciously. "You're not from here, are you? And I don't just mean you're foreign!"

"...Then what do you mean?"

"Every witch knows there's other planes out there, other dimensions. Some witches can even talk to people or creatures from them, or make contracts! I read about it all in my grimoire, you're some kinda traveler from another world, I bet! That's why you got weird powers and don't know anything!"

Silver's blood froze, what kind of dark arts is this child playing with? She probably doesn't even know how close to home she's hitting... Silver's tensed-up body let off a nervous glow as he eyed Amy up and down once more, triple-checking she wasn't bearing some kind of mind-reading mark.

"...You're not answering. I'm right, aren't I?" A sly grin worked it's way onto her face, a little fang jutting out over her bottom lip.

"And what if you are? You seem to understand full well what I'm capable of, witch. What'll you do? Run off and tell your parents you met an inter-dimensional traveler?" 

Amy's smirk turned to a scowl, her fingers gripping her hammer tighter than before.

"I don't have any."

"How sad." Silver responded dryly, hearing someone was an orphan tended to stop making you sad after about the 90th time. "Then what? What is it you're going to do?"

"If I wanted, I could go home where all my stuff is and put a much worse curse on you, I could make you go blind or deaf, or turn you into a chicken! I made you kneel on the ground with a sigil I drew with marker, so don't underestimate me here! If you let me in on your secrets, I might just spare you. In return, you won't use your powers to kill me, how's that?"

"...Are you trying to make a contract with me?" Silver scoffed, but then he saw the pen and paper Amy had somehow produced from nowhere.

"Yep! If I make a contract with a creature like you, I'll be the envy of all my witch friends! Just sign this thing, and you'll get to keep your senses!" For the first time since meeting Silver, Amy beamed with excitement as she shoved the pen and paper into Silver's hands.

Was this actually happening? In all seriousness, Silver was totally lost in this world he'd found himself in, and even if she were a tad odd, Amy clearly had some semblance of power, and a weapon to boot. The prospect of going suddenly blind was also quite honestly terrifying, and seeing how she'd acted after he made a comment about her outfit... Silver sighed. It seemed the only way to avoid later strife was signing this slip, and in turn promising he wouldn't harm this little brat. That'd most likely be the hardest part, but she did only say with his powers...

"All done? Yippee!" Amy snatched the pen and paper away with an even bigger smile. Does this count as her first familiar? Whatever, who cares? She was elated to have made such a find, even if it did cost her a bruise and some threats, but her mood had totally flipped now. Silver, on the other hand, was apprehensive, would this prove to be a mistake?

Suppose only time would tell.


	5. Live and Learn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: Sonic Adventure 2, Last Story
> 
> Song: Live and Learn
> 
> I'm unsure exactly if I'd just use the original or remix it, but generally take this as 'the theme song for the SA2 arc"

Space is so cold. People have always told you that, your creator, for example, but you don't think they prepared for how cold is actually is. Even wreathed in the golden glow of Chaos Energy, warming you from inside, even though you're smiling, the vacuum that covers everything you can see and feel presses into your skin and the stars burn into your eyes and it's just so  _cold_. 

Your name is Sonic the Hedgehog, and you are the Ultimate Lifeform. What that means has been a little up in the air lately, but it's the one thing you know for sure.

 

You like to think you had a brother, once. He was quiet, a little unresponsive at times, but you cared about him more than anyone else, and he cared about you too. Which was surprising, for a machine. From the first time you were thrown into your little room, with your creator watching on high from a window, you and your brother had sparred again and again to hone your abilities, the mechanical prototype against the biological successor. Metal was smart, and could accelerate quicker than you, but you had unpredictability and tenacity on your side, so matches could go either way. One day, after sparring, the doctor turned the lights off and you thought to ask:

"What's your name?"

You got no response, but when the robot turned to face you, it clicked in your head that your training partner was just as alive as you, he didn't have any skin, so you called him 'Metal'. Let it never be said you were the most creative individual. When the lights were on, you and Metal would rip into eachother at full force; when the lights were off, you sat close to eachother, talking about the Earth down below and what life could be like on a world with plants and water and friends. 

You'd been there now. 'Metal, isn't that wonderful?' you think to yourself, watching his giant, monstrous corpse slowly drift away from the Death Egg, away from the moon, away from you. 'It was just like how we imagined, so beautiful and exciting.'

You had a brother, once, but he's gone now. A shell of what he was. It hurts, but you're still smiling. Maybe it's because you can't move your facial muscles, maybe you just aren't trying very hard. It's difficult to tell, but you know that you're falling, gravity slowly claiming you. There's a shard of metal lodged in your chest that you almost forgot about, a piece of Metal's body that launched off while he was exploding, feeling oddly like it belongs there, grazing the tissue that makes up your heart. That's right, Metal was exploding, wasn't he? You killed him, you and Shadow, so he couldn't destroy everyone on that planet. Metal's exploding. He's drifting away into the endless black, and he's exploding, dying. It's all your fault. 'I'm sorry', you think, over and over, it's starting to set in now. 'I miss you already'.

You aren't sure if you're smiling anymore, your face is numb.

 

See, the other thing about space is, you can't hear anything, not really. Your kind can survive in space, sure, but they certainly can't  _move_ very well, and that makes talking a little difficult. Super forms help, they pretty much let you do what you want, but even still, you have to shout quite loudly. Like Shadow is! You can see him, just over there, all aglow and crying out in your direction, getting closer and closer by the second. What he's yelling about, you have no idea, but as time slips down your spine, you can see him getting closer and closer, but at the same time further away. You haven't known Shadow very long, but he's someone special, someone who's just like you, a fighter. Someone who always rises to your challenges and sometimes even beats you! You haven't had that since-

Oh. Oh, it sets in a little bit, they are similar, aren't they? Oh, that probably means something, doesn't it? Oh...

He seems pretty upset about something. Makes sense, you are kinda banged up, does he care about you? Man, that's lame. Do rivals normally do that? Care this much? Maybe you're both bad rivals, you're starting to want to reach out towards him, like he's reaching out towards you.

Space is so cold until it isn't, until it's burning, until it's re-entry, until you're a shooting star and you can't see your brother anymore but you know he's hurt and dying and he needs your help but you can't save him; he's not your brother anymore, he's a giant monster that forgot all about you after they locked you away for 50 years, he's never going to remember, he's never coming back.

'I miss you already', you think once again, reaching out for Shadow's hand, he's so close, you can see he's struggling. His usually stoic face is torn up and screaming, his black-turned-ivory quills whip around everywhere as he desperately tries to save you! He's a hero, and you're not, you're a monster just like Metal, and yet you see the pain in his eyes and the tears he can't cry when someone on the colony reminds him that he's almost out of energy. He can't save you.

His body fills with light, and you see him mouth the words, 'I'm sorry'.

Then he's gone.

And it's cold again. 

 


End file.
